Our three mile jog was as good a tour of the town as one might have gotten from a guide book. We ran by the cannon that commemorates St. Michael's claim to fame as "The Town That Fooled the British" during the War of 1812. The Redcoats were supposedly tricked into aiming their cannons too high by the townspeople who raised lanterns into treetops during a nighttime raid -- poor sacrificial squirrels! Well, maybe the squirrels were ok as apparently this is a false tale we were informed by one of the CBMM staff members.
Other historically notable sights that we passed included the centuries-old "High School Bell" and a replica of Captain John Smith's shallop (small boat) that he used on the first thorough European exploration of the Chesapeake Bay. Aside from looking like it just got rowed out of a history book, what was also remarkable about this replica is that it was used in 2007 to retrace Smith's voyage (12 crew, 121 days, 1700 miles under sail and oar power on a 28 foot, 7 inch open boat!).
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| The High School Bell |
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| A replica of Captain John Smith's shallop. |
In search of Phoenix's reward (ok, bribe) for running with me, we jogged along St. Michael's main street, past boutique stores and fine restaurants and ended up at the Blue Crab Coffee Co, one street over on S. Fremont St. The ambience in this coffee shop (housed in a historical building, of course) was so inviting and warm that I asked the man serving us if he was the owner in hopes of complimenting him. He wasn't, but told us how the owner had visited St. Michael's as a traveling nurse, noticed that it did not have a coffeehouse and had thus moved here to open the Blue Crab Coffee Co. He mentioned that as the owner is now based in Florida, the place is for sale (maybe when the kids are older!). Phoenix got a really moist and yummy Cinnamon Twist muffin (other flavors: Lemon Bliss, Cappucino Swirl, Raspberry Crumble and several others).
Back at the museum, Phoenix and I finished our showers just as Uncle Randy and Tess arrived. We did not know at the time that it was Randy's last day as a furloughed ("Every single member of my bureau is non-essential") FCC lawyer. The museum was graciously offering free admission for furloughed employees and their family members. Though we are outraged and dismayed by the furlough, the silver lining to it for us has been having a couple of extra days with Randy and his awesome family that could not have happened otherwise.
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| Tess, wearing her shirt with a shaka on the front, which she calls her
Frère Jacques shirt.
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| Buyboats purchased oysters directly from boats out on the bay. This allowed the watermen to not have to return to shore as often and allowed them more time to tong or dredge for oysters. Wish I had a buyboat named Thor. |
I noticed how the museum did a great job personalizing and really bringing history to life --- so much so that on the skipjack in the Oystering exhibit, the little ones were startled by the voices coming from the life-size models, and I was afraid Jamey might be tempted to grab the mug of coffee sitting next to the Captain.
More poignantly, we read the personal accounts from many who have lived and worked on the bay in the past, including stories from the minority (mostly African American) women and men who took the most grueling and uncomfortable jobs, such as crabpicking and oyster shucking. The exhibit did a great job pointing out that working on the skipjacks and even owning these oyster boats was something that African American men were able to do. With the money they made, their status was elevated and several even gained town leadership positions, a feat otherwise unheard of at the time.
Sage was able to insert herself into a third grade class's field trip and learned how to pick out the meat from a "real" crab. As she described it, the balls of meat she was picking out of the little cloth crab looked so good that she wanted to eat them. We saw a machine designed to replace human crab pickers that worked by crushing the shell and then swirling bristles through the crab to sweep the meat out. The docent informed us that these machines were never able to keep small bits of shells out of the meat, so to this day, no machine has replaced human crab pickers.
We have learned that the best way to enjoy a museum with kids is to visit for just a couple of hours at a time. Having joined as members yesterday, we had dinghy dock access to the museum and were able to easily row to C.Spirit for lunch.
If not for the stinging nettles (jellyfish) in the water, the girls and dads would definitely have jumped in for a swim. Instead, they had some pretty good alternatives, all performed in Luna:
1. catch jellyfish with a net and bucket
2. pour water over each other (after checking that the water is jellyfish-free)
3. accidentally drop a cup in the river and do a cup overboard drill (very entertaining to watch from C.Spirit)
4. row each other around
5. sail Luna with Uncle Randy
Randy additionally figured out that standing up while sailing Luna (which he dubbed SUD for 'stand up dinghying') is a pretty fun thing to do.
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| Luna and her fine crew. |
Back at the museum, it was great to see the girls continue to enjoy the exhibits. They really loved the waterfowling exhibit with its multiple duck decoys. They were particularly entertained by learning about the use of live duck decoys, trained and/or tethered ducks that fly out and "invite the other ducks to come play, but then the hunter shoots them down!"
If we had had more time, we would have finished watching the 30 minute documentary about a group called the "Merikans". During the U.S.'s early history, enslaved African Americans fought both for the U.S. (We will set you free, but you have to fight for us) and for the British (We freed you, now you have to fight for us). Around 3,500 to 4,000 of these soldiers and their family members sought true liberty and went to Trinidad where they became known as the Merikans.
Hanging out with Randy and Tess really made our day. Tess and the girls were able to squeeze every bit of "Cousin Time" together that they could. It helps us to have more perspective on our trip to have visitors, especially those as enthusiastic and fun as Randy and Tess, and we are so appreciative of their time, gifts, and loan of Gill sailing bibs! Thanks also to Lindsay and Baby Calvin for sharing your family! We look forward to our next visitors: C.Spirit's true captains -- Grammy and Grampy this weekend!.
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PHOENIX'S POST:
Today we were anchored next to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. Our uncle, Uncle Randy and his daughter Tess came to spend the day with us. We went around the museum stopping at most of the boats that we were allowed to climb on. The four main exhibits that I thought were awesome were the waterfowl exhibit, oystering and crabbing exhibit, and the lighthouse exhibit where they showed what the lighthouse had looked like when people had lived in it.
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PHOENIX'S POST:
Today we were anchored next to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. Our uncle, Uncle Randy and his daughter Tess came to spend the day with us. We went around the museum stopping at most of the boats that we were allowed to climb on. The four main exhibits that I thought were awesome were the waterfowl exhibit, oystering and crabbing exhibit, and the lighthouse exhibit where they showed what the lighthouse had looked like when people had lived in it.
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HOMESCHOOLING: It was a homeschooling pearl (no pun intended) to find the CBMM's Oystering and Crabcakes curriculum online. Phoenix, Indigo and I reviewed much of the material yesterday during the journey from East Wye River to St. Michael's. Though designed for teachers to use in 3rd to 6th grade classrooms pre- and post-field trips, we found the content rich and easy to use, and it was superb to have their lesson reinforced via the museum exhibits.
CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME MUSEUM INFO: We opted for the $100 Contributor Level Membership which includes day docking, dinghy dock access, overnight slip use (usually $1.75 per foot, this month $1 per foot) and facilities (showers, water, pump out station). Being able to walk around the museum grounds at night is priceless! This level of membership also includes reciprocal admission to Council of American Maritime Museums (over 70 museums in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Bermuda). General admission is $13 adults, $10 seniors 62+, $6 kids 6-17. The museum is open every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day.
ANCHORING: The guide books talk about poor holding ground, but we didn't find any difficulties. We found a great spot around 150 feet south of the museum docks. With a wind shift or two, there were a few adjustments Jamey made to keep us from swinging too close to the channel. There is also a town dock further in the harbor (2 hours limit) and a dinghy dock by the Crab Claw restaurant which is right next to CBMM.
PLAYGROUNDS AND PROVISIONS: ACME just a few minutes walk from CBMM and a public playground for the girls (swings and a large wooden play structure boat) on the way there. The window-shopping on Talbot St is fabulous and includes art galleries, and some cute clothing and jewelry stores with at least one toy store. Phoenix and I peered into Frivolous Fibers in the morning before it had opened and had plans to get some fancy yarn for our crochet projects.
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